Wednesday, September 03, 2008

UK Crime Fighters Grapple With iPhone Wipe Threat

Criminals can remotely destroy incriminating evidence by exploiting security features on the Apple iPhone, a leading digital forensics expert has warned.

The head of the Serious Fraud Office digital forensics unit Keith Foggon cautioned that the ability to remotely wipe the iPhone and other smart phones used by enterprises could be exploited by lawbreakers.

Foggon said: "The 3G iPhone is brand new, there are not many tools for dealing with it and it can be remotely wiped. It's a bit like the BlackBerrys where users can carry out remote deletion."

He added the unit took precautions to guard against the feature being exploited. "Because we isolate the devices immediately, and never reconnect them to their network, the remote wiping capability does not present us with much of a problem," he noted.